Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Reduces Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC reduced its stake in Crown Castle Inc. by 43.7%, now holding 3,297 shares worth approximately $344,000.
• Crown Castle reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.02 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the analysts' estimates of $1.00.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, which offers an annual yield of 4.1%.

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lessened its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 43.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,558 shares during the quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 9.0% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 35,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,665,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth about $262,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth about $307,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 7.2% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,780 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,943 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE:CCI traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $101.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,249,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,247,423. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.47, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.04.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CCI. Citigroup raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $116.24.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service - bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.